As I write this, a crisis is unfolding in the life of Mala K.*a young woman from Chennai, whose parents discovered that their daughter is attracted to other women, not men.

Initial response: Panic. What will others say?

It’s a close knit and conservative society; everyone’s business is everyone else’s. A lesbian daughter would make them the laughing stock of the entire community.

Second response: Let’s cure her of this ‘disease’.

She is rushed to the psychiatric ward of a private hospital, where, fortunately, the doctors tell the parents homosexuality is not an illness, and that medical science has no way to change her orientation. Others of her kind are less fortunate – drugged with anti-depressants or hormones, and administered electric shocks by unethical physicians – in futile attempts to make them heterosexual.

Third response: Let’s pray the homosexuality out of her.

She is dragged to a religious camp in a secure compound in rural Kerala, where dozens of people are currently attempting to rid her of her same-sex attraction through ‘prayer’ and mental torture.

While these responses may appear extreme, they are not at all uncommon. It is far worse if the child expresses cross-sex identification, i.e. if their boy wants to live life as a girl or vice-versa.

Geographic Specific Resources

General Resources

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Last year I attended a short orientation to prepare me for work in rural India. Facing a year in the closet, I asked what I could expect from men in my community in rural Rajasthan: "You might see some men holding hands like homosexuals in the west."As a westerner I may have jumped to conclusions about two men holding hands. Certainly in London, yo […]